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Essay: the effect of exercise on the brain
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Can exercise affect your brain? After years of research, scientists concluded that exercise had an impact on your brain. Exercising helps you build muscles and improve your body’s physical condition as well as prepare your brain to fight against depression and sharpen skills.How?
First of all, let’s understand the problems the brain encounters through the various stages of life. As mentioned in Source 2 ; Depression, memory loss, mood swings and dementia are just some of the major obstacles that reduce the efficiency of our brain. However, there are ways we make these health issues disappear.
“ Prevention is better than cure.” This statement holds true when it comes to the relationship between exercise and the brain. Working your brain may
Several of the most active areas of research in risk reduction and prevention include cardiovascular factors, physical fitness, and diet. Any damage to blood vessels could cause damage to the brain. This is because the brain is link to these blood vessels. Regular physical exercise increases blood and oxygen flow to the brain which increases the health of the brain. Eating healthy has an effect on heart health which links to brain health. This diet includes little red meat and more of vegetables and produce, as well as fish, nuts, and other healthy
Weighing only 3 pounds, the human brain is the most complex structure known to man. It is what sets humans apart from the rest of the other animals. It is a powerful organ that allows us to learn, store memories, think creatively, and communicate with one and another. Physical damage to any organ in the human body can be detrimental and that is no different with the brain. However, once the brain is damaged, there is often nothing that can be done. Damage to the brain is not only done physically, but a person 's lifestyle, in particular, living in poverty has negative effects to the brain.
716). Characteristic features of Parkinson's disease include “motor impairment (bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, gait dysfunction, and postural instability), cognitive impairment (frontal lobe executive dysfunction), and mood disorders” (p. 716). Normally, motor performance depends on the interaction between automatic (unconscious) and volitional (cognitive) control of movement, however those with Parkinson's disease, experience an “early and preferential loss of dopamine in the caudal regions of the basal ganglia (dorsal regions in rodents), which leads to diminished automatic and increased cognitive control of movements that include frontal lobe circuitry” (p. 716). Consequently, those with Parkinson’s disease must sustain a larger cognitive load to execute either motor or cognitive tasks, such as working memory. In the past decade, increasing evidence has accrued for the role of exercise in the improvement of motor performance, which may help both the cognitive and automatic control of movement. Thus, exercise interventions can help those with Parkinson’s disease incorporate goal-based motor skill training, which then helps in engaging circuitry important in motor learning. Individuals with Parkinson's disease become cognitively engaged with the practice and acquiring of movements and skills that were formerly automatic and unconscious. In addition, aerobic exercise is also observed as important for improvement of blood flow and assistance of neuroplasticity in the elderly, which may also play a role in the improvement of behavioral function in those with Parkinson's disease. Petzinger et al. additionally states that exercise also uses goal-based training and aerobic activity which can improve “both cognitive and automatic
Keteyian, Dr. Steven(2000, October 10). Exercise Boosts Mental, Physical Health. Retrieved April 12, 2005, from http://psycport.com/news/2000/10/10/DTNS/000-0286-Keyword.Missing.html
Research was conducted at University of Kent’s School of Sports and Exercise Science to find if endurance in physical activities were affected by sending transcranial direct current stimulation. To conduct this experiment, they got participants to ride a stationary bicycle, the participants that had the current sent over their scalp felt as if they were putting in less effort to cycle, which led to these participants riding the bicycle for a longer period of time than the participants who didn’t have an electrical current sent through their scalp. This proved that brain stimulation can improve endurance in healthy individuals.
One of the experiments performed was with animals. One set of animals were forced to live alone in a bare cage and the other set of animals were given toys and companions. The animals in the “stimulating” environment were forced to create connection with their companions and they were also forced to figure out how the toys work. This environment allowed the animals to form new connections between brain cells, which allowed their brains to grow. The animals that were put in bare cages spent most of their day sleeping and not engaging, which did not allow their brains to grow. The animals in the stimulating environment had brains that were 10% heavier than the other animals, according to the study. In another study, scientists assembled a group of individuals who could not juggle and divided the group in half. One group was taught to practice juggling and they continued to practice, while to other group did not practice. The group that was taught to practice and practiced the skill were able to improve their skills. These results were confirmed by a brain scan which revealed that the jugglers who practice had growth in the motor and visual areas of their brain. Brain growth is always possible, as long as practice is
...t. Our environment changes every day, and we must be able to adapt to any situation. Even when we have knowledge of what rules and guidelines are, and know how to put into action, we are still require to combine the different variables every day. We must constantly compare the people and places around us, analyze them, and apply any new information to what we already know. This process is what makes us live, and it makes us the intelligent creatures at the top of the ecological food chain. Looking at quality of life, there is nothing more important than keeping the brain active. As we get older, the brain and its synaptic processes begin to slow down and decay. Older people have a higher probability to suffer from dementia and several other degenerative diseases. If we keep our brain learning, active, and alert the quality of life we have will be better as we age.
A study in 2012 measured neural markers and cognitive function in middle-aged athletes and non-athletes. While the cognitive function scores were the same, researchers found the athletes' brains showed greater metabolic efficiency and neural plasticity. Another study taken place in 2012 discovered that relatively fit people exceeded the score of unfit people by far. This is due to the fact that running stimulates the creation of new nerve cells and blood vessels within the brain, which in turn prevents the organ from shrinking due to age. Studies have also shown that running may help increase the volume of the midbrain (which controls vision and hearing) and the hippocampus (which is linked to memory and learning).
Mykenzie Moyle Ms. Douglass English I, P.4 16 May 2014 Research Paper Alzheimer’s Disease is formed in the brain but, yet, has no known cure or treatment. Alzheimer’s disease has many symptoms. Memory is the biggest symptom along with mood swings and having a hard time keeping up with a conversation. A patient with Alzheimer’s goes through 7 stages; The first stage, which is misplacing things or forgetting what something is used for, second stage, they start losing more of their memory and they begin to forget where they are or what they are doing, the third, fourth and fifth begin to mentally decline and need someone to take care of them and worsen over time.
...ly prove that swimming directly effects specific mental and physical diseases in ways that other rehabilitation methods can not.
Le, Poncin Monique. Brain Fitness a Proven Program to Improve Your Memory, Logic, Attention Span, Organizational Ability, and More. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1990. Print
What does it mean to have a ‘healthy’ brain and why is this so important? Just as you can expect to keep your body in a state of wellness, your brain should be given a similar treatment. A healthy brain promotes your general physical and emotional well-being. Also, more specifically, the brain’s cognitive functions, including memory, problem solving, calculation, and decision making are not hindered when a state of wellness is maintained. Lastly, serious disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, and other ailments that can follow an aging brain, may be deterred. Now, you may ask, how do I ensure my brain is healthy? There are many steps you can take but I will list five that I feel are the easiest to act upon and are more likely to have positive results. These five actions are: getting sufficient sleep, eating healthily, exercising, performing brain stimulating activities, and socializing.
It even helps you test better according to a the Mayo Health Clinic’s statement: “Those who had exercised during the preceding month but not on the day of testing generally did better than those who had been sedentary, but did not perform nearly as well as those who had worked out that morning.” Another internal effect of working out is muscles receiving more blood, higher VO2 level, and helping maintain bone mass. The fitter a person is, the more efficiently their heart works therefore, blood pressure decreases and new healthy blood vessels form. Exercising expands a person’s life cycle because the more someone workouts, the healthier they are. Furthermore, the brain is one part that no one would think exercising has anything to do with, but it’s the main one that is affected. Exercising results in increased brain flow which helps the brain function more efficiently. Also, new brain cells are formed that help boost memory and learning. A number of neurotransmitters are triggered, these are what controls a person’s mood; this is how exercise prevents depression. Working out improves development of neurons, production of nerve protecting compounds, and can reverse brain and muscle decay. There are various positive internal effects that exercise has on people’s
Over the years, there have been multiple studies on the stimulation effects on the brain from brain exercises. Some of the more prominent studies are the IMPACT, ACTIVE, and IHAMS studies. First off, the IMPACT study which had 487 participants. It is the largest experiment ever to examine whether or not brain stimulants are able to improve cognitive abilities in adults. Led by distinguished scientists from Mayo Clinic and the University of Southern California, the IMPACT study proves that people can make statistically significant gains in memory and processing speed if they do the right kind of scientifically designed cognitive exercises. Studies prove that people can make statistically large gains in memory and processing speed if they do certain brain exercises.
Have you ever wondered why physically active people are quite active, most times of the day? The answer is clear; it is for the reason of improved blood circulation in the brain. For this reason, lack of exercises is clearly not beneficial to anyone, let alone the brain. Moreover, psychologists have from time to time advised individuals to engage in a little brain activity, through simple exercises such as yoga, to combat emotional stresses and improve their moods. Similarly, physical activities are known to combat depression cases because they act as a form of distraction, which significantly helps one get through the depressant (Salmon, 2001). Finally, physical activities also aid in normalizing one's sleep pattern, which in turn allows the brain to rest adequately. In short, ignoring physical activities greatly hampers one's brain activity; therefore, it is important for individuals to embrace exercises to enhance their brain's